Dropping the torch : Jimmy Carter, the Olympic boycott, and the Cold War / Nicholas Evan Sarantakes.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sarantakes, Nicholas Evan, 1966- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Carter, Jimmy, 1924-2024.

Carter, Jimmy.

Olympic Games--(22nd : 1980 : Moscow, Russia).

Olympic Games.

Sports and state--United States.

Sports and state.

Boycotts--United States.

Boycotts.

Cold War.

United States--Foreign relations--Soviet Union.

United States.

Soviet Union--Foreign relations--United States.

Soviet Union.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvi, 340 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Dropping the Torch: Jimmy Carter, the Olympic Boycott, and the Cold War offers a diplomatic history of the 1980 Olympic boycott. Broad in its focus, it looks at events in Washington, D.C., as well as the opposition to the boycott and how this attempted embargo affected the athletic contests in Moscow. Jimmy Carter based his foreign policy on assumptions that had fundamental flaws and reflected a superficial familiarity with the Olympic movement. These basic mistakes led to a campaign that failed to meet its basic mission objectives but did manage to insult the Soviets just enough to destroy détente and restart the Cold War. The book also includes a military history of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which provoked the boycott, and an examination of the boycott's impact four years later at the Los Angeles Olympics, where the Soviet Union retaliated with its own boycott.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: Introduction: miracle on ice; 1. Lord Killanin and the politics of the Olympics; 2. Los Angeles versus Moscow; 3. Jimmy Carter and U.S.-Soviet relations; 4. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; 5. The American response; 6. Easy victories; 7. Painful losses; 8. The White House games; 9. Coca-Cola, NBC, and the defeat of the Iron Lady; 10. The vote in Colorado; 11. Civil wars; 12. Carter versus Killanin; 13. Moscow: the Olympics are the Olympics; 14. Los Angeles: the Olympics are the Olympics; 15. Conclusion; Epilogue.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781316086681

1316086682

9781139775687

1139775685

9781107253308

1107253306

9781139778725

1139778722

9781139781718

1139781715

9780511761805

0511761805

9781283715652

1283715651

9781139777209

1139777203

OCLC:

818817502